LEWISTON – A groundbreaking ceremony was held Saturday marking the beginning construction of a new $30 million dining hall at Bates College.

The new dining hall will be much larger. At 60,000 square feet, it will be about the size of the entire current Chase Hall, where the existing dining hall takes up a portion.

When completed in January 2008, it will be the second largest building on campus after Merrill Gym.

The new Commons will accommodate nearly 1,000 students and feature a marketplace style of serving, where staff will prepare meals at various stations. That will reduce long lunch lines, according to the college.

The need for a new, larger dining hall is great. The existing dining hall in Chase Hall was built in 1920 and has been added to numerous times, creating an untamed structure of eight different levels. It is inefficient and lacks sufficient seating. Its size cramps the dining staff, and storage space is so limited there’s only enough space to hold food for one day.

The style of the new dining building will harmonize with traditional Bates architecture, incorporating brick, granite, slate, copper and glass. It will be centrally located on the campus, occupying space between Garcelon Field and Alumni Gym, bordering Central Avenue.

The new dining hall will also offer five meeting spaces for student groups, alumni, faculty and staff.

The architectural firm for the project is Sasaki Associates Inc. of Watertown, Mass., and San Francisco.

Copy the Story Link